Why Do I Write?

One of the questions I asked myself recently was: why do I write? At first the answer seemed easy, I write because I like to. Easy peasy, right? Not necessarily. While I do enjoy writing, I realized that writing is more of an emotional and mental outlet for me - whether that be for mental stimulation or even to relieve some stress or sadness.
In my stories I always add some aspect of myself into my characters. Whether that be how I interpret the fleetingness of life (Falling From Grace), or making my characters internalize emotions like myself, my characters will have parts of me. Because truthfully, creative writing is how I process my thoughts and emotions.
After struggling through most of my adolescence to feel heard, I think its important (in a sense) to include this internal struggle of myself in my characters. And maybe, nobody will ever read my stories. And if someone does happen to stumble across some of my writing, maybe they'll look at my characters and think they're crazy or unrealistic. But I'll still write them based off of myself for the very few who do understand the struggles of mental illness and trauma. Somebody will feel heard. That's my goal.
And so I encourage you, heavily, to include pieces of yourself into the characters and the stories you write. Or hell, even include aspects of family or friends into your characters. You never know who will be reading it. And maybe, someone else will feel heard to.